Dr. Ben Blackford was appointed dean of the College of Business, Mathematics and Technology in 2025 after a decade in the roles of assistant director and then director of the Melvin D. and Valorie G. Booth School of Business.
He joined the Northwest faculty in 2009 and attained the rank of professor in 2023. He has taught coursework related to innovation and entrepreneurship and organizational policy and decision-making in addition to developing Northwest’s annual New Venture Pitch competition.
He has a Ph.D. in business from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln; he has a Master of Business Administration degree with a management information systems emphasis and a Bachelor of Science degree in management, both from Northwest.
